Sandy Bedfordshire Family History Guide

Sandy is an Ancient Parish in the county of Bedfordshire.

Alternative names: Sandy with Girtford

Sandy is a populous village, part of which lies on the great North Road near Girtford Bridge over the Ivel. It never possessed a market, however, for the ancient east Bedfordshire market towns of Biggleswade and Potton are adjacent.

While there is no specific mention of epidemics, the register seems to chronicle the results of more than one visitation. In 1559 the 26 burials in January to April and 31 in December to March suggest plague, prevailing perhaps for over a year. Minor outbreaks may possibly lie behind the somewhat numerous burials in the summers of 1546 and 1648 (London suffered in 1547 to 48), the autumn or 1557, the spring of 1597, the winter of 1714 to 15 and the spring of 1777

Other places in the parish include: Stratford, Gritford, Beeston Green, and Beeston.

Parish church:

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1538
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1602

Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent, Primitive Methodists and Wesleyan Methodist.

Parishes adjacent to Sandy

Historical Descriptions of Sandy

Sandy

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

SANDY, a village, a township, and a parish, in Biggleswade district, Beds. The village stands on the river Ivel and on the Great Northern railway, at the intersection of the Bedford and Cambridge railway, and on the Roman road from St. Albans to Godmanchester, 3 miles N N W of Biggleswade; is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman station Salinæ; and has a post-office under St. Neots, and a r. station with telegraph. The township contains also the village of Gritford, and the hamlets of Beeston-Green and Stratford; and comprises 3,800 acres. Real property, £8,587. Pop. in 1851, 1,565; in 1861, 1,754. Houses, 380. The parish includes also 210 acres of Beeston hamlet, with a pop. of 364 in 1861, and 81 houses. The property is much subdivided. The Hasells, Cæsar's Camp, and Swiss Cottage are chief residences. Market-gardening is largely carried on. Two ancient camps, one of them called Cæsar's, and covering about 30 acres, are in the vicinity of the village; and many Roman coins, urns, and other relics have been found. S. Warren is a meet for the Cambridgeshire hounds. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £769. Patrons, the Executors of the late F. Pym, Esq. The church is cruciform, with W tower; and was restored in 1860, at a cost of £3,300. There are Independent and Wesleyan chapels at Beeston-Green, and charities £90.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Sandy with Girtford, 2½ m. N. W. Biggleswade. P. 1906

Source: Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850

Beeston

Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850

Beeston, 3 m. N.W. Biggleswade. P. 406

Source: Leonard's Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840

Beeston, a hamlet, partly in the parish of Northill, partly in that of Sandy, hund. of Wixamtree, county of Bedford; 2½ miles north-north-west of Biggleswade, on the post-road to Huntingdon. Pop., in 1801, 180; in 1831, 258. Houses 50. Acres 210. Other returns with the parish.

Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.

A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833

Beeston, co. Bedford.

P.T. Biggleswade (45) 3m NNW. Pop. (with six adjoining hamlets) 455.

A township, partly in the parish of Northhill, and partly in that of Sandy, in the hundred of Wixamtree.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. II; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833